The combined modernization plans of AGCO and OLG will fundamentally change the Ontario gaming landscape and may well auger change elsewhere in Canada. The Ontario approach significantly minimizes investment and operational risk for the public sector and shifts it to the private sector together with commensurate opportunity for reward. This type of regulatory, ownership, and operating environment is familiar to most companies operating in the gaming industry internationally and will result in greater choice, improved product, and an enhanced experience for gaming customers, whatever their preference.

What is vitally important at this stage is for the private sector to offer well-thought-out and meaningful feedback to both OLG and AGCO as they proceed down the modernization path. This is a unique opportunity to share best practices and assist in the improvement of both the regulatory and operational environments of a major market. It’s time for all of us to come together with OLG and AGCO to help chart the way forward.

There are still plenty of questions to be answered and hurdles to overcome as the winds of change blow and the process unfolds. We look forward to working together with AGCO, OLG, and the industry-at-large to make this initiative the unqualified success it deserves to be.

By Bill Rutsey, President and CEO of Canadian Gaming Association